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I DID TRY sniffing Travis's neck, but he hit my radar as wounded antelope. Since I didn't want to rip his throat out, I had to back off. Touching Pierce's hand had been an electrifying experience. Shit. I made Noel take Travis to the hospital room in the back, so he could shift and heal the damage. I had to give my most solemn word that I would not bond with either Pierce or Haven, and bring disaster to their pride, while they were resting. I promised. I meant it. I wasn't sure how to keep the promise, but I did mean it.
We all went to sit in the living room while we tried to get through our list of metaphysical emergencies before we had to get dressed for the ballet.
"We are running out of time, Jean-Claude," Auggie said.
"Ma petite was able to free Requiem of an ardeur-related compulsion earlier today. We had thought to use the same technique to free you, Augustine. Are you saying that your freedom from the slavery of the ardeur can wait?"
"I need to send Octavius to fetch my clothes for this evening. He has expressed"--Auggie smiled--"reservations about my being here without him at my back. I came thinking I'd get my ashes hauled, and make a smash and grab on the local lions. Still might do the whole lion thing, but the rest didn't work out like I planned."
"You are not going to do the whole lion thing," I said. I was on the love seat sitting between Micah and Jean-Claude. Nathaniel and Damian were on the floor at our feet. Damian was touching my leg, and that one touch helped me think. He'd promised not to do anything but help me stay calm. There would be a learning curve on Damian's new power level, too. The grade on all of it seemed pretty damn steep.
Jean-Claude patted my knee, as if warning me to be calm. I was calm; Damian's touch almost guaranteed that. I was also determined that our invitation to the Master of Chicago was not going to rain bad stuff all over our local werelions.
"Most of the werelions in the Midwest owe allegiance to my pride."
"It's not your pride," I said, even if your animal to call is the Rex of that pride. "It's his pride, or hers."
"His," Auggie said.
"Fine, but that doesn't make it yours."
Auggie glanced at Jean-Claude. "She believes that. Doesn't she know the law?"
"Ma petite knows that in the vampire world all that my servants own is mine."
I had known it, but I hadn't made the logic jump. "It can't be your pride, because if something happened to your lion to call, then you couldn't hold the pride. If you can't hold the group without the help of someone else, then it's not yours, Auggie. Your lion dies and your hold on his pride dies with him."
"Is that a threat?" he said, softly.
Damian squeezed my calf, and Jean-Claude squeezed my knee. Micah moved closer to me, sliding his arm across my shoulders, so that he was holding me and Jean-Claude, really. It didn't seem to bother anyone but me.
"Not yet," I said.
Damian laid his head in my lap. Jean-Claude stroked my leg, his way of saying, Be careful. Micah was as close as he could get to me. Nathaniel just cuddled more solidly between Jean-Claude and me, wrapping his arm around my leg, but laying his head on Jean-Claude's knee. I'd never seen him do that before to the vampire. Jean-Claude petted his hair, absently, like you'd stroke a dog, as if it were very everyday. It wasn't everyday, and I realized that Nathaniel was helping us negotiate. Auggie had proved that he liked men, maybe not as much as he liked women, but still... He'd remarked on Nathaniel's hair, made a pass at Micah. Nathaniel wasn't flirting, he was lying with his body. Lying that he and Jean-Claude had a closer relationship than they did. Would it bother Auggie? And if it did, which way would it bother him? Would it disturb him because it's guy-on-guy sex, or would he be jealous? Hell, it might bother him both ways. A lot of men seemed conflicted about that sort of thing.
"Did you say that most of the prides in the Midwest owe you allegiance?" Micah said.
"Yes."
"Vampires aren't allowed to wage war on territories that don't touch their own," Micah said.
"I haven't done anything to any other Masters of the City. Vampire law only covers how we treat each other's animals to call. My lions haven't tried to take over any land where the Master of the City had lions as his, or her, animal to call." He looked at me, as if I'd like the "her" comment. Frankly, I was liking less and less about Auggie.
"So as long as you only take over prides that aren't owned by vamps, you're in the clear?" I said.
He nodded.
"If we hadn't invited you into our territory, how would you have taken over Joseph's pride?"
"Sent Pierce and Haven down on their own."
"Then what, kill Joseph, and take over?"
"Joseph and his brother, yes."
"But if lion is one of my animals to call, then since everything that I own belongs to Jean-Claude, you have to leave Joseph and his people alone, because they'll belong to another master vampire."
"I think you've already chosen a lion to call, Anita. Your reaction to Haven was pretty intense."
"My reaction to Pierce is intense, too. I haven't chosen between the two of them. The fact that they belong to you may be why I'm reacting to them. Or, like you said, my lioness is looking for something a little more dominant."
"Justin's coming to the ballet with us tonight," Jason said, from the chair near the love seat.
Everyone looked at him. "Joseph's brother?" I made it a question.
Jason nodded, then winced, pulling the collar of his leather jacket a little away from his neck. It wasn't that cold in here, but he was still wearing his leather jacket. Why? If Auggie and his people hadn't been there, I would have asked. Jason had said something about a report he had to make. What report?
"Take off the jacket, wolf," Pierce said. "We can smell the wound."
Jason looked at Jean-Claude. He nodded. Jason took the jacket off. He then turned so we could all see his neck. It was either the biggest hickey I'd ever seen, or something had tried to tear out half of his throat.
I tried to rise, but all the men pressed down just enough to let me know, Don't. Jason came to us. Something had bitten him, but the teeth marks were like nothing I'd ever seen. "What the hell did that?"
Jason looked at his master.
"Not everyone who wishes to join us wishes to be your pomme de sang, ma petite. Some of the masters have brought people that they simply wish to trade. Jason was investigating one of them." His voice held so little inflection that I knew it was the truth, but not all the truth.
"Hope the sex was good," I said.
He grinned at me. "It was."
Meng Die made a disgusted noise. She was leaning decoratively near the white fireplace.
"I thought you didn't pimp your people out, Jean-Claude," Auggie said.
"I didn't order Jason to sleep with anyone. I asked him to get to know them better. His decision to have sex was just that, his decision."
"What did you fuck?" Pierce asked. "I've never seen a bite like that."
Jason flashed a grin in their direction. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Auggie reached up and laid a hand on Pierce's where it lay on the couch back. A look of near pain passed over Pierce's face. What did Auggie do when he touched his lions like that? Whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant. It reminded me of a shock collar for a dog.
The fact that Auggie didn't want Pierce to admit he didn't know something meant we were still negotiating. Negotiation was over as far as I was concerned.
"Is Justin meeting us here?" I asked.
"Yeah," Jason said. He settled back on the floor, on the other side of Jean-Claude, because Meng Die had taken his chair. London was in the chair closest to me. Only Requiem had taken a chair closer to Auggie's group. Or maybe he was farther away from me. Who knew with Requiem?
"If you liked Joseph's brother he would have already been on your radar, Anita. Don't let misplaced emotion trap you with someone not worthy of you," Auggie said.
"I decide who's worthy of me."
"He is the strongest dominant the pride has, but he is not as strong as your Ulfric is. He is not the survivor that your Nimir-Raj is. Would you truly bind yourself to someone who does not lead his group, Anita? Your power chooses only the strongest."
"It chose me," Nathaniel said, from where he cuddled on the floor.
"Yes," Auggie said, "there must be more to you than I can see."
"Perhaps it is love," Jean-Claude said.
Auggie looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Perhaps what ma petite needs is not strength of arms and will alone. Perhaps there are other needs to be met."
Auggie smiled, and for a minute he was the friendly guy who had first stepped into our living room. "You are a romantic at heart, Jean-Claude. It was always your weakness."
"And my strength," Jean-Claude said.
Auggie shook his head. "I gave up such things long ago."
"How sad for you."
The two vampires stared at each other. It was a long, long look. It was Auggie who turned away, and put his gaze on me. "You come off as hard, but you're a romantic, too, Anita. I don't think you have it in you to bind yourself to someone just for power and safety. That's what we did, Jean-Claude and me. We chose our servants, and our animals, for power. There are dozens, hundreds that come up on the radar over the centuries, but you wait. You wait until you are either desperate enough for the choice to be forced, or you find just the right one to make you powerful." He motioned at all the men. "Since you don't choose, your power chooses for you. I must say, it's got high standards. Since you don't know how to force your power to choose the one you want it to choose, I don't think you have the ability to force your power to choose."
I couldn't keep my nervousness down. My pulse rate sped up, just a little, and I had to swallow. Auggie would notice it. He would know that his little talk had hit home. He was right. I'd never been able to force the ardeur to choose, or not to choose.
"She forced the ardeur to free me," Requiem said, from his chair.
"She fought her beast not to choose Haven," Micah said.
"I think ma petite is finding her footing with her powers, Augustine."
"Do you truly wish to waste such a powerful alliance with someone who does not rule a pride?"
"Justin is part of Joseph's male coalition," I said. "They rule the pride together."
"But he is still not the dominant to match your wolf or your leopard king, Anita. It seems a shame to settle for a prince when you've only bedded kings."
I didn't know what to say to that. Because he was right, in one way; Justin didn't do it for me, or he hadn't before this. Maybe my lioness would like him better than I would? Part of me was hoping yes, and part of me didn't want to have to choose at all. If I was a master vampire then I should be able to choose, or not choose. If my power was more vampire than lycanthrope, then I had choices. If my power was more fuzzy than dead, then I was screwed.
